Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso
After another impressive Q3 appearance, Daniel Ricciardo dropped to thirteenth at
the start and then changed the complexion of the race – not through superb driving,
but thanks to a collision with the barriers at the notorious Turn 17, made infamous by
Nelson Piquet Jr. during the first Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. Ricciardo said after the
race that he only had himself to blame for the incident, pushing too hard to make up
lost ground.
Romain Grosjean – Lotus
After a superb Saturday qualifying session that saw the Frenchman third on the grid on
a day when his world champion teammate was hamstrung by a pinched ner ve in his
back, Romain Grosjean was under pressure to deliver a good result from the front of
the pack. But a poor start on Sunday left the Lotus driver swamped by Mark Webber.
From there, Grosjean’s race went from bad to worse, with an air-system failure severely
affecting his lap times, leading to time wasted in the pits before his eventual retirement.
Paul di Resta – Force India
After struggling with balance issues all weekend, Paul di Resta looked like he was in for
a long Sunday evening. It was, but the Scot’s long first stint was enough to vault the
Force India driver up to fifth, which became third after Nico Rosberg's stop and during
Fernando Alonso’s pit window on lap 24. A decent result looked to be on the cards
until di Resta fell victim to the same error as Ricciardo, pushing too hard and ending his
weekend in the Turn 17 barriers during lap 55. Unlike his Toro Rosso rival, however, di
Resta’s accident did not lead to a Safety Car, thanks to sterling work on the part of the
Singapore marshals.
Mark Webber – Red Bull
After showing prodigious speed compared with his teammate during free practice,
it looked as though Mark Webber had finally got his head around the right-angled
phenomenon that is the Marina Bay street circuit. But a missed opportunity in
qualifying saw the Australian start fifth, two rows behind his all-conquering teammate.
A superb start saw Webber get ahead of Romain Grosjean, but his failure to pit under
the first Safety Car made it hard to fend off the twin Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and
Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. Gearbox issues – a hangover from
Monza – reared their head yet again, and the popular Australian was forced to park his
RB9 on the last lap, having engulfed the pit straight in plumes of smoke as he passed.
Down and out
at Singapore
38
GPWEEK.com // 38
GPWEEK.com //
PARTNERS:
F1 >>> SINGAPORE